Giants’ collapse in Colorado proves they’re not built for the unforgiving NL West

There's no good way to lose a game to the 2025 Colorado Rockies, the team that entered Thursday on pace to break the record for most losses in MLB's modern era at 12-55. But the way the San Francisco Giants managed to do it was particularly painful: Bob Melvin's team got out to a 7-2 lead and appeared well on their way to a sweep, only for Randy Rodriguez to cough up three runs in the bottom of the ninth — the last two of which came home on a two-out, walk-off single by Orlando Arcia.

The Giants are no doubt eager to wipe the slate clean and move on to a crucial showdown with the rival Los Angeles Dodgers this weekend. And on first glance, it would be easy for fans to do the same; after all, San Francisco's bullpen has been largely great all year, and fluke losses are bound to happen over the course of a 162-game season. Even with the loss, the team is still in sole possession of the top NL Wild Card spot and one game back of L.A. in the NL West, a start that few saw coming on Opening Day.

But while the loss was indeed just one game, it should loom much larger. The truth is that the Giants have been playing with fire for a while, both in their series in Colorado and really all season long. That got exposed a bit on Thursday, in ways that suggest San Francisco might not be built to last in this rugged postseason chase.

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Giants played with fire all week against the Rockies

Really, San Francisco was lucky to win this series at all; if not for a whopping 11 combined runs in the eighth and ninth innings over the first two games in Colorado, they might've gotten swept by one of the worst teams in baseball history. Save for a couple of late outbursts, the bats were held in check by a dreadful pitching staff, while neither Kyle Harrison nor Robbie Ray pitched particularly well. (Chalk that up to Coors Field if you want, but these Rockies have had a hard time hitting even in the mile-high air.)

Colorado has won exactly one series all year. These are games that any postseason contender has to win, and win comfortably. Yet, there the Giants were, once again scrambling for their lives in the late innings. That's been how this team has done business all season long, and that bill is going to come due sooner or later.

San Francisco's surprising start looks more and more like a house of cards

The Giants entered play on Thursday with a whopping 17 wins in one-run games, the most in baseball; only one other team, the New York Mets, even had as many as 15. They'd also played in more one-run games than anyone in the league, with their latest loss running that total to 31 — nearly half of the team's total schedule.

San Francisco's +48 run differential doesn't look too shabby on paper, but looks can be deceiving. The reality is that this team simply hasn't played good enough baseball to comfortably beat teams on a consistent basis. It's really, really hard to win games that way, especially considering how tough the competition will be not just in the NL West but for all three NL Wild Card spots.

Eventually, baseball history tells us that your record in close games will even out; if you're taking every game down to the wire, you're leaving your fate in the hands of the baseball gods, and the baseball gods can be awfully cruel. Sometimes you'll score four in the ninth for a stirring comeback, but sometimes you'll be on the other end of things.

The Giants found that out the hard way on Thursday, and it should serve as a wake-up call to Buster Posey and Co. This team certainly isn't without talent, especially its pitching staff. But it lacks the top-end talent to really stack wins with consistency, and unless they want to rely on some more devil magic, they're going to need to find a way to add impact players at the trade deadline.